Only 2.43 nautical miles separate leader Charlie Dalin from his runner-up Yoann Richomme on Saturday at 7:00 a.m.
Published on 21/12/2024 09:50
Reading time: 1min
The leading trio turned into a duo. Leading the Vendée Globe for several weeks, Charlie Dalin (Macif) and Yoann Richomme (Paprec Arkéa) widened the gap with Sébastien Simon (Dubreuil group), Saturday December 21, at the 7:00 a.m. check-in. The Vendéen lost nearly a hundred nautical miles on his two closest adversaries on Friday, and is now 191.89 miles behind the leader, Charlie Dalin.
While all three of them went around Point Némo – the most isolated place on the planet – from the South, on Friday, Charlie Dalin and Yoann Richomme went neck and neck on the road which leads to Cape Horn. Only 2.43 miles (about 4 km) separate the two men.
More than 800 miles ahead of Armel Le Cléac'h's record, dating from the 2016-2017 edition, Charlie Dalin and Yoann Richomme should reach Cape Horn, at the tip of Chile, on December 23 or 24 . “OWe're going to go to Cape Town for Christmas, it's great! We have 20-25 knots downwind, which will generally be the case until Cape Horn. Once the boat is adjusted, it goes a little by itself […] It’s straight forward, it’s magical, it’s quite simple!”declared skipper Paprec Arkéa to the organization of the Vendée Globe.
Behind, it is still Thomas Ruyant (Vulnerable) who leads a group made up of eight skippers sailing between 1,000 and 1,500 miles from the leader – Justine Mettraux closes this group in 11th place, with a large lead (nearly 1,000 miles) on the 12th, Clarisse Crémer.
